


Return to Sender

by wildlyfuriousdragon



Series: Return to Sender [2]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Anxiety Disorder, Concussions, Drinking, Drunk Letter Writing, Drunk!Kent, Fear of hospitals, Hospitals, I'm so sorry, Kent is unaware of Bitty, Kit Purson everyone, Love Letters, M/M, Party in the USA: 2008, Phone Calls, Poor Bitty, Temporary Amnesia, Voicemail, and he is not a villian, but not really, he is also NOT a victim, these tags are shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-04 13:55:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6661051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildlyfuriousdragon/pseuds/wildlyfuriousdragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"........yesterday was the brutal checking of hockey player Jack Zimmerman, son of the legendary Bad Bob Zimmermann. He was taken out of the game during the last half of the 2nd period but Providence managed to secure the win over the Aces in a tight 4-3 win that definitely showed their team spirit.........."</p><p>or </p><p>Jack forgets and Kent fills in some blanks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Return to Sender

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all can follow the narrative. I thought the beginning would be a good way to set up the narrative without leaving the mood from the letter writing. There will 3 more letters after this ( or stories b/c this alone has 4 letters)! I hope you all like it! 
> 
> ALSO: I neither hate nor love Kent Parson. I don't have enough information to determine my feelings toward him but I do know that based on what Jack told Bitty at the Shinny, they ( J & K) were dicks to each other and that should be acknowledged.
> 
> Update: Now beta'd by the_boring_teacher
> 
> ANNNNDDDD I don't own the amazing comic Check Please!!!!! thank Ngozi for that gem!!!

**ESPN**

 

_"And look at him GO Steve; the speed and precision of Zimmermann is truly awe-inspiring."_

_"I couldn’t agree more Bill. He is certainly proving his early pessimistic commentators wrong with this type of performance. He’s made it into the show and is exceeding expectations regardless of his previous struggles and he and the other Falconers are giving the Aces a run for their money!"_

_"Yeah, I’m sure we all can see some level of civility between Zimmermann and old time friend Kent Parson, I mean these two; Iron definitely sharpens iron and these two are no exception. I’m almost afraid to think of a team that had that duo playing together, it would be a blood-bath!"_

_"I couldn’t agree more; even in their pre-game interview Parse joked that Zimmermann knew all his tricks so he’d have to stay on his toes and boy has he!"_

_"And what a game it has been, but nothing has fazed Zimmermann, he’s out here to play, he’s here to WIN."_

_"Speaking of the Zimboni he’s lining up for the Gino and OH! AN UNEXPECTED HIT FROM ACES D-MAN TOM MYERS! A HIP CHECK THAT SLAMMED THE FORWARD STRAIGHT INTO THE GLASS! WHERE DID HE EVEN COME FROM? "_

_"This isn’t looking good folks, Zimmermann seems down for the count, it looks like- and we see the medical team rushing out there. He doesn’t seem to have stirred at all. Myers seems to have done some definite damage on the rookie."_

_"That was hands down the nastiest check I've ever seen; I’m having a hard time seeing a speedy recovery for the Wonderkid this time. Myers coming in from seemingly nowhere- Bill I have to say that was borderline violent."_

_"Well while we wait for some more information from the staff we’re going to turn it over to our sponsors."_

 

* * *

 

**CNN**

 

“Trump denied his involvement, but the authorities have yet to carry out a full investigation. We’ll keep you updated with any new information but let’s take it to sports! Tell me about last night’s highlights.”

“Well Robin, you know how much I want to talk about the basketball playoffs but the highlight or rather the lowlight of yesterday was the brutal checking of hockey player Jack Zimmermann, son of the legendary Bad Bob Zimmermann. He was taken out of the game during the last half of the 2nd period but even in the midst of losing such a strong player Providence managed to secure the win over the Aces in a tight 4-3 win that definitely showed their team spirit. If we take a look at social media we see that Twitter has been blowing up with the hashtag ‘Pray4Zimms’. Zimmermann's injury has even sparked some anger from groups that have tried to make certain checks like the one committed by Myers illegal. Zimmerman’s publicist, Georgia Martin has stated that he has sustained some substantial head injuries and that the family would appreciate their privacy during this time.”

 _“_ And speaking of Greats on the bench, Steph Curry is still out with a leg injury…….. _"_

 

* * *

 

**Ring.**

**Ring.**

**Ring.**

 

_You have reached the voicemail box of……. **Jack Zimmermann** …….who is not available right now. Please leave your message after the tone or press 5 for more options. *BEEEEEEEP*_

"Hey Zimms, it’s me."

"Sorry I haven’t been up to visit you but, ha, you know hospitals have never been my thing. You love them apparently.  Sorry, that’s not funny. You know how I am."

"Come on man- I……. It’s been 3 fuckin’ days Jack please.  Sneeze, cough, open your goddamn eyes something, please. I can’t…….I can’t…………..I’m afraid that you’re never going to wake up again. You going to fuckin die and we didn’t work this shit out."

"If you do wake up and you hear this, I just want you to know……we were kids. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t right and we did what we did to keep living. I…….think we deserve a do-over. We can work this out, we can fix……us."

"I want to start over. I’m trying……I thought I could do this without you but I can’t……"

"I miss you."

"I know I always say that but sometimes I can’t get my brain around the fact that I’m skating and you’re not there.  I always mean it."

"So please. Wake up please. I need you to know that I lo-"

_You have exceeded the voicemail call-time limit. You can hang up or press 1 for more options._

***BEEP***

_If you would like to re-record your message please press pound. If you would like to delete this message press 3. If you would-_

***BEEP***

_Voicemail deleted._

***Click***

 

* * *

 

 

~~Dear Honey,~~

~~Hey Sweetheart,~~

Dear Jack,

I’m so glad that you’re awake and well! Lord knows ~~I’ve~~ we’ve been worried sick about since you went down at the Aces game last week. ~~Don’t you dare scare me like that again.~~

Unfortunately you were hit a little harder than the doctors initially thought. I can’t be at the hospital ~~I can’t believe you’d get hurt when you knew I was heading back to Georgia I swear Jack~~ but your dad called me and explained what was going on. Apparently the hit was the equivalent of shaking an Etch-and-Sketch- so your memories are  ~~completely gone sweetheart you don’t know who I am~~  a little mixed up.

The doctor said that the damage didn’t look permanent, but he suggested that talking to you would help jog your memory and speed up your recovery. You remember Shitty and Lardo, Ransom and Holster (although you get the two confused), Johnson and surprisingly Chowder.  (He’s super excited about that I’m sure. You mean a lot to ~~me~~ him.)

I’m ~~your boyfriend your lover~~ Eric Bittle, though most people call me Bitty. I was your line partner and teammate while you went to Samwell. We didn’t start off as friends but eventually (with many many pies) you came around.  You really helped me with some contact problems on the ice and it’s made me a better player.

Your dad told me that you’ve been having sensitivity to light and computers so I’m sending you this letter (and your favorite pie, I bet you taste-buds haven’t forgotten my maple masterpiece) ~~even though we text, Skype and call each other every day this will be the first time in almost a year that I’ll go to bed without the sound of your voice~~

~~How could you forget me?~~

I’m hope you feel better! Hopefully I filled in some gaps! Maybe I can visit when I get home! (to the Haus I mean)

~~I love you,~~

                                                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                                               Eric Richard Bittle

 

* * *

 

 

Dear Jack,

I’ve never been so relieved to hear your dad’s voice. Shit, I thought I would pass out when he called me to say that you finally woke up. It’s almost funny- I’m always scared whenever I talk to your dad but I’ve only heard him angry once. Do you remember that? We took your mom’s car and just started driving? Top down, wind in our hair, Miley Cyrus on the radio (Party in the USA is still on my pre-game playlist). At this point for me it’s not even a memory, it’s like replaying a video of two strangers. I can hardly believe that once upon a time THE Jack Zimmermann was so careless, so reckless. But yeah your dad went off on us- I seriously thought I was going to piss myself.

Sorry, I went off on a tangent but I guess this is the point of my letter. You know to jog your memory and shit? You still know who I am, which is good but when I saw you at the hospital- we just talked. No fighting, no fucking (not that we could have but still), no anything we just- talked liked civil human beings. I guess that’s when I knew I needed to write you because there is obviously something you don’t remember.

I didn’t realize that this whole amnesia thing was such a large test of morality you know? Like I could say ANYTHING to you and you’d have to take it. You can’t prove me wrong. Nobody knows what we did in the dark, in the locker and hotel rooms, in the back of buses or planes. I could, in this letter, erase our bad blood, say we were friends and start over. Isn’t that what we both want? Starting over I mean.

I don’t know what to say really. Half of this letter already is BS and you know it. I’ve never been good at the whole- talking thing, but I know jack shit about letter writing. Like, talking to you is different- I know how to push your buttons, turn the uncomfortable conversation into an argument, get you to walk away before I say something even worse. But this letter shit? I’m alone taking shots while my cat knocks shit off of shelves. (You’ve never met her, her name is Kit Purson, but she has nothing to do with sports so you probably wouldn't like her) There’s no one to walk away from, no one to blame, and throwing this letter away would be a pussy-move so I’ll write whatever pops into my tipsy brain.

I guess I’ll start at the beginning.

It goes without saying that you and I love hockey. Our bones are made of fucking ice and we can’t help that. In retrospect I guess things could have played out a lot better. You were the offspring of the great Bad Bob Zimmermann, you played like a fucking champ, WE played like fucking champs- the world was at our feet. Things were fine for a while. We were kids being kids and that was fine. Why couldn’t things just be fine?

We started fooling around with each other not because girls were hard to get, they just took up too much time. We were convenient for each other. And let me say Zimms that you never have half-assed anything in your fucking life. You always wanted to do things right, took care of me before yourself. (You ruined blowjobs for me forever holy shit) I got selfish. Being with you stopped being about getting my rocks off and I wanted something more from you. I wanted something that was and wasn’t hockey (that doesn’t make sense but whatever).   ~~Maybe at some point (maybe now) you’d want the same thing~~. I made the mistake of thinking that one day you’d put me before hockey. ~~And I’m still waiting.~~

So things changed. You started getting more nervous, more anxious. We still spent time together but not as much. You spent more time at the rink and I spent more time with the press. I could handle the cameras and you couldn’t. The draft came and you drank too much, overdosed and lost your dream. You went to that fuckin’ rinky-dink school and I was embarrassed for you.  They didn’t even have a proper hockey team- what were you even thinking? You could have taken a year off, come to Vegas with me, we could have been Parszimmons all over again but no. Four years wasted.

I was surprised that the Falconers even took you.

I tried to help you! I tried and I tried and I tried. I would come over, offer to help, and it would end up in an argument. And you know what the most fucked-up part of it was? I was right and you knew it. Who was going to want the washed up Wonderkid that studied History?

Providence- it was a lucky shot Zimms.

#

I had to get up. It’s been about an hour and I’ve been talking to Ms. Purson . She thinks I’m being a prick but I beg to differ.

I think somewhere between point A and point B I convinced myself that I fell in love with you. But you never seemed to love anything other than hockey. Maybe I should accept that.

Well that’s us.

Hope I filled in some fucking blanks.

I guess you wish I’d left them blank huh?

 

                                                                                    Yours, (never)

                                                                                                            KP

 

* * *

 

 

Dear Kent,

Thank you for taking time to write the letter (although you sound like you were getting hammered)

I’m sure that I never intentionally did anything to try and hurt you, but instead tried to keep myself alive.

Maybe I still don’t remember a lot, but I do know that you are my friend and we can get past this.

                                                                                                                                        JZ

 

* * *

 

 

**_Epilogue_ **

****

Dear Eric Bittle,

Thank you for taking time to write a letter. It still feels odd to have so many missing pieces in my head but you were right- the pie did help me think of you. Unfortunately my memories don’t extend past anything that isn’t baking, but I know you are wonderful at it.

I should be returning home in about a week so whenever you head back up to Samwell feel free to drop by.

                                                                                                                                         JZ

~~P.S. You do seem very familiar?~~

**Author's Note:**

> Next time on 'Return to Sender'.......
> 
> Jack thinks he's lying to himself.


End file.
